Brendan Hughes
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Brendan "The Dark" Hughes (b. 1948 in Belfast, Northern Ireland) is an Irish republican and former Officer Commanding (OC) of the Belfast Brigade of the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA).[1]
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[edit] Background
Hughes was born into a republican family from the Lower Falls Road area of Belfast. He was a cousin of Charles Hughes who was the OC of D Company in the Provisional IRA Belfast Brigade during the Falls Curfew and was shot and killed by the Official Irish Republican Army in March 1971.[2]
[edit] Republican activity
Hughes joined the IRA in 1969 and was "on the run" in Belfast by 1970. From 1970-1972 Hughes was involved in a number of attacks on British soldiers and bank robberies in order to raise funds for the republican movement.[3] On 19 July 1973 Hughes was arrested on the Falls Road along with Gerry Adams and Tom Cahill, and was sent to Long Kesh.[1] On 8 December Hughes escaped inside a rolled up mattress in the back of a dustcart, and fled across the border to Dublin. He returned to Belfast after assuming a new identity, becoming a travelling toy salesman named "Arthur McAllister". For five months Hughes lived in Myrtlefield Park near Malone Road, and was believed to be the new leader of the IRA in Belfast following the arrest of Ivor Bell in February.[4]
On 10 May 1974 Hughes was arrested following a tip-off, and the house was found to contain a submachine gun, four rifles, two pistols and several thousand rounds of ammunition. Hughes was subsequently sentenced to fifteen years in prison.[5] Three years after his arrest Hughes was involved in a fracas, and received an additional five year sentence for assaulting a prison officer. As he was convicted after 1 March 1976 Hughes was transferred from the compounds to the H-Blocks and lost his Special Category Status. He refused to wear prison uniform and joined the blanket protest. Shortly after arriving in the H-Blocks Hughes became the OC of the IRA prisoners, and in March 1978 ordered the prisoners to begin the dirty protest.[6]
[edit] Hunger strike
Hughes was the leader of the 1980 hunger strike. Against the wishes of the IRA Army Council, on 27 October 1980, Hughes along with six other republican prisoners, including John Nixon, Tommy McKearney and Raymond McCartney, refused food and started a hunger strike.[7]
During the second month of the hunger strike the British Government led by Margaret Thatcher, sent an intermediary to inform Hughes of a possible compromise, despite previously having publicly rejecting any compromise.[7]
Hughes had promised one of the hunger strikers, Sean McKenna, that if he slipped into a coma that he would end the hunger strike and as McKenna was on the verge of death, Hughes found himself in a dilemma. Hughes assumed that the compromise was in good faith and ended the hunger strike after 53 days. However, when the document arrived at the prison there was disappointment at the final position of the British Government.[8][9]
Bobby Sands took over as leader of the republican prisoners in the Maze during this hunger strike.[10]
[edit] Release
Hughes was released from prison in 1986, and returned to live in Belfast.[11] In 2000 he criticised the Sinn Fein leadership for allowing building firms in west Belfast to pay low wages to former prisoners and that the republican leadership had sold out on their ideals in order to achieve peace in Northern Ireland.[12][13] In October 2006 Hughes was pictured on the front page of the Irish News wearing an eye patch, after he underwent an operation to save his sight which had been badly damaged due to his hunger strike.[14]
[edit] References
- ^ a b Taylor, Peter (1997). Provos The IRA & Sinn Fein. Bloomsbury Publishing, pp. 156-157. ISBN 0-7475-3818-2.
- ^ Ibid., pp. 58, 79.
- ^ Unknown.“Brendan Hughes” Socialist Review 2006-09-01. Retrieved on 2007-02-11.
- ^ Taylor, Peter (2001). Brits. Bloomsbury Publishing, pp. 157-159. ISBN 0-7475-5806-X.
- ^ Taylor, Peter (1997). Provos The IRA & Sinn Fein. Bloomsbury Publishing, pp. 160-162. ISBN 0-7475-3818-2.
- ^ Taylor, Peter (2001). Brits. Bloomsbury Publishing, pp. 228-229. ISBN 0-7475-5806-X.
- ^ a b Taylor, Peter (1997). Provos The IRA & Sinn Fein. Bloomsbury Publishing, pp. 230-235. ISBN 0-7475-3818-2.
- ^ Hunger Strikes and Death of Bobby Sands BBC Website. Retrieved on 2007-02-11.
- ^ Brendan Hughes. “Risking the Lives of Volunteers is Not the IRA Way” Irish News 2006-07-13. Retrieved on 2007-02-11.
- ^ John Cunningham (6 May 1981). How the IRA manufactured a new martyr. The Guardian. Retrieved on 2007-02-19.
- ^ Taylor, Peter (2001). Brits. Bloomsbury Publishing, pp. 228-229. ISBN 0-7475-5806-X.
- ^ David Sharrock (4 March 2000). Ex-IRA leader attacks Adams. The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved on 2007-02-11.
- ^ Malachi O'Doherty (6 February 2001). Hungry for a new Republican agenda. Belfast Telegraph. Retrieved on 2007-02-11.
- ^ Tony Macaulay (6 October 2006). What the papers say. BBC. Retrieved on 2007-03-19.
